The Islamic State has lost most of its territory in Iraq and Syria, but it hasn't lost any of its charm. It still has plenty of worldwide affiliates and functions more like Al Qaeda, directing international terror plots and providing a sort of leadership to its affiliates.
Here's the New Year's message from its Somali affiliate.
The Somali affiliate of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) released its first video late Monday, offering gruesome threats to those celebrating the holidays with drunken revelry.
The debut, a nearly eight-and-a-half-minute video, began with a shot of a Christmas tree, champagne being poured in a tall glass and the voices of partygoers counting down to the New Year. Instead of shouts of “Happy New Year,” however, after “one” came a man yelling “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater) and the sounds of violence the militant group has been notorious for causing and inspiring around the world. A narrator then beckoned ISIS supporters to take advantage of intoxicated people and large gatherings for Christmas and New Year’s as “a new opportunity” to perpetrate death and destruction
So fairly typical ISIS stuff.
“This message is for the brothers who are living among the kuffar [infidels]. Don’t you feel the pain of the Muslim brothers living in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Burma and Palestine? The prophet—sallaAllahu 'alayhi wa-sallam [blessings of Allah be upon him and peace]—said, ‘The kafir [infidel] and his killer will never be joined in the hellfire.’ Which means, killing a kafir is your ticket out of jahenim [hell],” an unidentified, masked man told the camera while holding what appeared to be a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
“And lastly, know this, the Islamic State is here to stay. We’re going to fight and keep on fighting until we rule the whole world by the Sharia and this black banner of la ilaha illa Allah [There is no god but Allah.]
Obviously they're just misunderstanding Islam. By taking it literally.
The Islamic State is drawing on the religious affiliations of Muslims, promising them forgiveness for their sins and urging them to kill non-Muslims.
In the Somalia clip, ISIS also repeatedly ordered the group’s global support network to “hunt them” and featured crosshairs targeting Christian clergy, including Catholic Pope Francis. It instructed viewers to “strike their churches in the East and the West.”
Egypt has already seen an upsurge of violence against Coptic Christians. And Europe has seen Islamic terror plots against churches. The message is clear. So is the refusal of our governments to deal with that reality.